In the prior art, a number of techniques are employed to hang a wall article such as a picture, painting, mirror, tapestry, etc. One such technique employs a nail or other member that is attached to the wall, whereby the nail acts as the support for the article to be hung. The article to be hung can then be fitted with a wire, and the wire is slipped over the protruding nail to support the article. The article can also use other types of hanging devices such as serrated plates that are attached to the back of a frame, with the nail engaging one of the serrations on the plate for frame support. The article can also be hung by attaching a hanger device having a loop, whereby the nail would engage the loop for article support.
A picture hanger using a loop is illustrated in FIG. 1 and is commonly referred to as a d-ring. In fact, the d-ring is an assembly of a bent plate and a ring. The d-ring assembly of FIG. 1 is designated by the reference numeral 10 and includes a plate 1 that is bent or folded at 2 to form a pair of opposing plate sections 3 and 5. Each section has a pair of openings 7, each of which being sized to allow a fastener, e.g., a screw, nail, or the like to pass through the openings 7 and secure the two plate sections 3 and 5 to a wall article.
The plate is shaped at fold 2 with an opening 9 and a pair of curved folds 11. The ring 13 passes through each curved fold 11, each end of the ring 13 being bent upwardly at the opening 15 that is between the folds 11 to retain the ring in place. Once the plate 1 is attached to a wall article, the ring 13 can hang on a nail or other protrusion from a wall to support the wall article. In another use, two spaced apart d-ring assemblies 10 can be utilized with a wire extending between the two, the wire being used to hang onto a nail protruding from the wall.
Another class of wall article hanging devices are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. D339,981, 5,328,139, 5,588,629, 5,758,858, and 6,095,478 to Barnes. These patents run counter to the conventional wall article hanging techniques that first attach an element to the wall, and then hang the wall article off that wall element. In the Barnes' patents, a hanging device is first attached to the wall article to be hung, and then the wall article is secured to a wall surface. Using the Barnes' device and method, there is no need for locating a nail or the like at a predetermined location on the wall so as to position the wall article in the proper location. That is, the wall article itself is used for positioning in the proper site on the wall.
The Barnes' devices are also advantageous in that the wall article is secured in such a fashion that the article remains stationary after attachment, and the constant article leveling that goes on when a wire and nail are used is eliminated.
The hangers of the Barnes' patents are designed to be attached to a wall article frame using prongs of the device itself or fasteners.
Another Barnes hanger is disclosed in co-pending application Ser. No. 09/851,323 as a two piece system with a first piece attached to the wall article and a second piece designed to engage the wall surface and link to the first piece attached to the wall article for wall article support. This arrangement can even use a specially modified d-ring as the first piece, wherein the d-ring employs flanges or other means to establish the link with the second piece for wall article support. While this type of a wall article hanger is useful, it still requires modification of the prior art d-ring.
Accordingly, a need still exists to hang pictures using the Barnes methodology and the d-ring concept but without having to modify existing d-ring assemblies. The present invention solves this need by providing a wall article hanger device that interfaces with prior art d-ring assemblies to allow the wall article employing the d-ring assembly to be attached to the wall without the need for a wire and a nail or aligning the d-rings with nails, or other fasteners extending from the wall.